This article, The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space, discusses the Feminist and Indigenous methods I apply to co-created collaborative and relational portraiture projects expressly created for public space and semi-public space and how they act as art and activism. The discussed projects, created using still and moving image, work in resistance to the problem of the gendered aesthetic within the Australian context through the applied making methods within a social studio, the politics of representation and the public placement of the project’s products. Discussed projects include #IAMWOMAN (2017-current), Women Dreaming (2018) and Flipping the Script (2018).
The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space
Abstract
Published: 2019-11-30
Pages:171
to 184
Section:
RMIT University: Master of Arts (Art in Public Space)
Available Formats
How to Cite
Haines, J. (2019) “The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space”, The Journal of Public Space, 4(3), pp. 171-184. doi: https://doi.org/10.32891/jps.v4i3.1228.
Author Biography
AustraliaJody Haines is a photo media artist - photography, video and projection - based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. By applying an Indigenous and feminist filter to her work, Haines focuses on identity, representation and the Female Gaze within the Australian context. Haines presents her work across the gallery cube and public spaces. Haines has exhibited widely including Sydney Festival 2018 and Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2017 as part of Tell: Contemporary Indigenous Photography, and Gertrude Street Projection Festival 2017. In 2017, Haines was awarded the Emerging artist award for Immerse 2017, for her work #IAMWOMAN, an ongoing social portrait project. She has been commissioned to create work for festivals such as Women of the World and Festival 2018 Commonwealth Games with the Women Dreaming Project, and Through sKIN we Breathe, held in Dance Massive 2019, and Our people Our place a new public art commission for Horizons Festival 2019, Sunshine Coast Queensland, collaborating with the local community in a visual and audio projection work. Engaged as a lead artist/video artist across projects including Flipping the script 2018 and Place Patterns 2018 both supported by Creative Victoria and Wyndham City Council. Haines completed a Master of Arts, Art in Public Space, at RMIT (2018) with Distinction, and was included on the Vice Chancellors Academic List RMIT 2018. Currently a PhD candidate at RMIT School of Art, she is looking at Relational and Collaborative Photography as a tool for social change. She lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples and is a descendant of the Tommeginner peoples of Tasmania.
References
2015. The Social Studio [Online]. Online: Twist Design. Available: https://www.thesocialstudio.org/about-us/ [Accessed July 2019].
Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a feminist life, Durham, Duke University Press.
Azoulay, A. (2016). Photography Consists of Collaboration: Susan Meiselas, Wendy Ewald, and Ariella Azoulay. Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, 31.1 91, 186-201.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing, UK, Penguin Books.
Bessarab, D. & Ng'andu, B. (2010). Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 3, 37-50.
Brooks, D. E. & Hébert, L. P. (2006). Gender, race, and media representation. Handbook of gender and communication, 16, 297-317.
Budarick, J. (2018). Media outlets are racialising Melbourne's 'African gang' problem. The Conversation, August 1.
Cotter, D. J., George, M. & Graeves, D. M. (2017). RE: Congratulations, Immerse 2017 Emerging Artist Award. Type to Haines, J. November 11.
Darian-Smith, K. (2016). The ‘girls’: women press photographers and the representation of women in Australian newspapers. Media International Australia, 161, 48-58.
Dobson, A. S. (2015). Postfeminist Digital Cultures Femininity, Social Media, and Self-Representation, USA, Palgrave Macmillan US.
Dunleavy, J. n.d. About Yarning Circles: A Guide for participants [Online]. On line: GNIBI Southern Cross University. Available: https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scueduau/academic-schools/-gnibi-college-of-indigenous-australian-peoples/About-Yarning-Circles-A-Guide-for-Participants.pdf [Accessed August 2019 2019].
Edelman, M. W. (2015). It’s hard to be what you can’t see [Online]. On Line: Children’s Defense Fund. Available: https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns/health/2015/its-hard-to-be-what-you-cant-see/ [Accessed May 2018 2018].
Finkelstein, R., Ricketson, M. & Australia Department of Broadband, C. A. T. D. E. (2012). Report of the independent inquiry into media and media regulation. Canberra.
Fredericks, B., Adams, K., Finlay, S., Fletcher, G., Andy, S., Briggs, L., Briggs, L. & Hall, R. (2011). Engaging the practice of Indigenous yarning in action research. ALAR: Action Learning and Action Research Journal, 17, 12-24.
Greenberg, J. (2018). The Female Lens. TEDx, 2018 Wabash College USA. Online: TEDx Talks.
Hadland, A., Lambert, P. & Barnett, C. (2016). The state of News Photography 2016. online: University of Stirling and World Press Photo Foundation.
Haines, J., Galuak, A., Akon, A., Basutu, T., Olubodun, O., Kulong, A., Makur, R., Yona, B., Mayen, N., Kollie, J., Ruach, N., Kabasha, L., Kitungano, M., Rual, A., Balla, R., Ali Bakhit, S. & Dawd, S. (2018a). FACES ACROSS AFRICA (AFRICA…NOT A COUNTRY).
Haines, J., Mayen, N. & Basutu, T. (2018b). For you.
Haines, J. & Olubodun, O. (2018). Don’t Touch my hair.
Hooks, B. (1992). Black Looks: Race and Representation, USA, South End Press.
Lorde, A. (2017). Your silence will not protect you, UK, Silver Press.
Luvera, A. (2010). Residency. photographies, 3, 225-241.
Luvera, A. (2019). Then with Now. Photography for whom?, 1, 5-9.
Marshallsea, T. (2017). Why doesn't Australia have an indigenous treaty? [Online]. Online: BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-40024622 [Accessed 2018].
Martin, B. (2018). Platforms of Indigenous Knowledge Transference. In: OLIVER, J. (ed.) Associations. Creative Practice and Research. Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Mignolo, W. (2009). Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought and De-colonial Freedom. Theory, Culture & Society, 26, 1-23.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen. Screen.
Palmer, D. (2013). A Collaborative Turn in Contemporary Photography? photographies, 6, 117-125.
Sebag-Montefiore, C. (2019). Women battling sexism in photography – a picture essay. The Guardian, 07 March 2019.
Sontag, S. (1971). On Photography, USA and Canada and Great Britain, Penguin Books.
Stoneham, M., Goodman, J. & Daube, M. (2014). The Portrayal of Indigenous Health in Selected Australian Media. The International Indigenous Policy Journal., 5, 1-13.
Turnbull, G.-R. (2015). Surface tension. Navigating socially engaged documentary photographic practices. Nordicom review, 36, 79-96.
Wells, L. (2005). Women and Photography. Oxford University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a feminist life, Durham, Duke University Press.
Azoulay, A. (2016). Photography Consists of Collaboration: Susan Meiselas, Wendy Ewald, and Ariella Azoulay. Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, 31.1 91, 186-201.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing, UK, Penguin Books.
Bessarab, D. & Ng'andu, B. (2010). Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 3, 37-50.
Brooks, D. E. & Hébert, L. P. (2006). Gender, race, and media representation. Handbook of gender and communication, 16, 297-317.
Budarick, J. (2018). Media outlets are racialising Melbourne's 'African gang' problem. The Conversation, August 1.
Cotter, D. J., George, M. & Graeves, D. M. (2017). RE: Congratulations, Immerse 2017 Emerging Artist Award. Type to Haines, J. November 11.
Darian-Smith, K. (2016). The ‘girls’: women press photographers and the representation of women in Australian newspapers. Media International Australia, 161, 48-58.
Dobson, A. S. (2015). Postfeminist Digital Cultures Femininity, Social Media, and Self-Representation, USA, Palgrave Macmillan US.
Dunleavy, J. n.d. About Yarning Circles: A Guide for participants [Online]. On line: GNIBI Southern Cross University. Available: https://www.scu.edu.au/media/scueduau/academic-schools/-gnibi-college-of-indigenous-australian-peoples/About-Yarning-Circles-A-Guide-for-Participants.pdf [Accessed August 2019 2019].
Edelman, M. W. (2015). It’s hard to be what you can’t see [Online]. On Line: Children’s Defense Fund. Available: https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns/health/2015/its-hard-to-be-what-you-cant-see/ [Accessed May 2018 2018].
Finkelstein, R., Ricketson, M. & Australia Department of Broadband, C. A. T. D. E. (2012). Report of the independent inquiry into media and media regulation. Canberra.
Fredericks, B., Adams, K., Finlay, S., Fletcher, G., Andy, S., Briggs, L., Briggs, L. & Hall, R. (2011). Engaging the practice of Indigenous yarning in action research. ALAR: Action Learning and Action Research Journal, 17, 12-24.
Greenberg, J. (2018). The Female Lens. TEDx, 2018 Wabash College USA. Online: TEDx Talks.
Hadland, A., Lambert, P. & Barnett, C. (2016). The state of News Photography 2016. online: University of Stirling and World Press Photo Foundation.
Haines, J., Galuak, A., Akon, A., Basutu, T., Olubodun, O., Kulong, A., Makur, R., Yona, B., Mayen, N., Kollie, J., Ruach, N., Kabasha, L., Kitungano, M., Rual, A., Balla, R., Ali Bakhit, S. & Dawd, S. (2018a). FACES ACROSS AFRICA (AFRICA…NOT A COUNTRY).
Haines, J., Mayen, N. & Basutu, T. (2018b). For you.
Haines, J. & Olubodun, O. (2018). Don’t Touch my hair.
Hooks, B. (1992). Black Looks: Race and Representation, USA, South End Press.
Lorde, A. (2017). Your silence will not protect you, UK, Silver Press.
Luvera, A. (2010). Residency. photographies, 3, 225-241.
Luvera, A. (2019). Then with Now. Photography for whom?, 1, 5-9.
Marshallsea, T. (2017). Why doesn't Australia have an indigenous treaty? [Online]. Online: BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-40024622 [Accessed 2018].
Martin, B. (2018). Platforms of Indigenous Knowledge Transference. In: OLIVER, J. (ed.) Associations. Creative Practice and Research. Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Mignolo, W. (2009). Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought and De-colonial Freedom. Theory, Culture & Society, 26, 1-23.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen. Screen.
Palmer, D. (2013). A Collaborative Turn in Contemporary Photography? photographies, 6, 117-125.
Sebag-Montefiore, C. (2019). Women battling sexism in photography – a picture essay. The Guardian, 07 March 2019.
Sontag, S. (1971). On Photography, USA and Canada and Great Britain, Penguin Books.
Stoneham, M., Goodman, J. & Daube, M. (2014). The Portrayal of Indigenous Health in Selected Australian Media. The International Indigenous Policy Journal., 5, 1-13.
Turnbull, G.-R. (2015). Surface tension. Navigating socially engaged documentary photographic practices. Nordicom review, 36, 79-96.
Wells, L. (2005). Women and Photography. Oxford University Press.
